New! The Rafting Learning Drill​

Raft Guiding

The guide acts as the control center or captain of the raft and it's paddlers. He or she observes the river ahead and makes the decisions about how to paddle in response to the river currents and obstacles ahead and calls out paddle commands to the crew. As you advance to rivers with rapids, co-ordinated paddling actions are needed. The guide is just like the captain of a ship - in charge of everything.First you'll need to understand some basics about the rivers.

River Classification

Click the pictures for larger images

Class 1

Class 2 Novice

Class 3 Intermediate

Class 4 Advanced

Class 5 Expert

Class l is flat water.

Class 2Straightforward rapids with wide, clear channels which are evident without scouting. Occasional maneuvering may be required, but rocks and medium-sized waves are easily missed by trained paddlers. Swimmers are seldom injured and group assistance, while helpful, is seldom needed. Rapids that are at the upper end of this difficulty range are designated Class II+.

Class 3Rapids with moderate, irregular waves which may be difficult to avoid and which can swamp an open canoe. Complex maneuvers in fast current and good boat control in tight passages or around ledges are often required; large waves or strainers may be present but are easily avoided. Strong eddies and powerful current effects can be found, particularly on large-volume rivers. Scouting is advisable for inexperienced parties. Injuries while swimming are rare; self-rescue is usually easy but group assistance may be required to avoid long swims. Rapids that are at the lower or upper end of this difficulty range are designated Class III- or Class III+ respectively..

Class 4Intense, powerful but predictable rapids requiring precise boat handling in turbulent water. Depending on the character of the river, it may feature large, unavoidable waves and holes or constricted passages demanding fast maneuvers under pressure. A fast, reliable eddy turn may be needed to initiate maneuvers, scout rapids, or rest. Rapids may require “must make” moves above dangerous hazards. Scouting may be necessary the first time down. Risk of injury to swimmers is moderate to high, and water conditions may make self-rescue difficult. Group assistance for rescue is often essential but requires practiced skills. For kayakers, a strong roll is highly recommended.

Class 5Extremely long, obstructed, or very violent rapids which expose a paddler to added risk. Drops may contain large, unavoidable waves and holes or steep, congested chutes with complex, demanding routes. Rapids may continue for long distances between pools, demanding a high level of fitness. What eddies exist may be small, turbulent, or difficult to reach. At the high end of the scale, several of these factors may be combined. Scouting is recommended but may be difficult. Swims are dangerous, and rescue is often difficult even for experts. Proper equipment, extensive experience, and practiced rescue skills are essential. Because of the large range of difficulty that exists beyond Class IV, Class V is an open-ended, multiple-level scale designated by class 5.0, 5.1, 5.2, etc.

River Features Identification

Eddies

The river has places where the current swirls back upstream. These are very useful as parking places, for slowing down or facilitating certain maneuvers on the river. They can be small or very large and are found on the inside of bends below rapids, and rock outcroppings.

Eddy Lines

The eddy line is where the two opposing currents rub shoulders. This area can be gentle or quite turbulent. When crossing these in a raft or while swimming, you sometimes have to use a burst of speed to punch through.

Curves

Since the water on the inside of a turn runs slower, that is where the river drops it's load of sand and gravel during times of flood. That forces most of the flow to the outside of the turn where it gets deeper and faster. A raft will drift to the outside of the turn also because of it's momentum. So you have to angle towards the inside of the turn to stay off the shallows and rocks near shore.

Rapids & Tongues

The tongue is the V shaped, smooth entry to a rapid. The river flows there because it the least obstructed water channel. It generally is the best place to run a raft through. There can be more than one at the top of and within a rapid. They come in many sizes.

Rocks & Ledges

Rocks can be more difficult to see from upstream. Look for a hump in the river with a large drop-off behind it. Sometimes there are ledges where the water pours over to hide them. Always be suspicious of sudden elevation changes and steer clear of them.Smaller rocks can hide under the surface but can be spotted by a hump in the water with a disturbance behind - a small eddy.

Holes

In holes the water pours over a ledge and dives to the bottom of the river. This forms a low area that the river tries to fill in and you get a backwash.If you don't have enough speed to punch through, your raft can get pulled back, surfed and flipped.

Spotting Holes

Here is the same hole viewed from upstream. The horizon line with white frothy water behind it gives it away. Later in the lessons you will learn how to maneuver around such obstacles. Or you could power forward and try to blast through as a last ditch effort. Notice that to the far right or left it looks a bit better? Compare that to the previous picture.

Wrap Rocks

A wrap rock is one that's lodged in a fast current. A raft can get pinned against it and get wrapped or flipped over. The navigation skills you will learn will help you avoid this dilemma. There is also a technique called high siding which can prevent this, where everyone moves their weight to the rock side of the raft to prevent the upstream tube from sinking.

Strainers

Trees and tree branches should not be taken lightly especially in a fast current. All paddlers need to be informed that they need to stay away from trees in the current if they are in the water.This picture was taken during high water on the South Fork. Strainers become much more common during times of high water in winter and early spring.

Rock Gardens

When the rock density gets high you have a rock garden. When looking downstream always try to find the clearest channel and avoid the shallows. In a rock garden you have to slow down and weave through the rocks. We call this "technical". It's a good way to polish up you guide skills.

Waves - Bring em on - Hit em Straight

Clean Waves

Waves come in all shapes and sizes. Your job is to hit all the waves you can.

Wave Trains

A long string of waves. These are formed by compression when the water has to slow down in a pool. Try to stay on the train and hit them all. The wave train also indicates the deepest wqter.

Side Curling Waves

When a wave is at an angle to the flow. You have to hit these at 90 degrees to avoid getting flipped.

Breaking Waves / Holes

At some point a wave will break and become a wave hole. These must be hit with max speed to bust through. Some can get so big you have go around them to avoid a flip.

The Tools of the Guide

The guides paddle. It's used to turn the raft and keep it pointed in the desired direction. It is hardly ever idle.

The paddling strength and skill of your crew. You can't run a paddle raft by yourself.

Knowledge of paddling technique, river dynamics & features.

Leadership skills and a positive attitude.

Your ability to give loud and clear paddling commands as needed.

Knowledge and experience. It helps you plan ahead and carry out the needed actions.

An educated crew. Giving a put-in talk before embarking on the river will ensure an easier and safer trip. Continuing coaching of your crew members as needed as you go down the river. Much of the Canyon training film consists of the the put-in talk.

Reading the Water:The guide is constantly studying the river from his perch in the back of the raft, looking for fun sections to ride and things to be avoided. The guide observes what effect the currents, wind and momentum are having on the raft and then gets the correct thrust applied by the paddlers to adjust course.

Moving Around on the River: The whole idea in rafting is to keep the boat in the current that's going where you want to go. You try to make the river do the work for you. The only reason we paddle is to shift the boat to the left or right on the currents, increase or decrease our forward momentum or to move through the slow sections. The idea is to avoid hitting rocks, trees, too shallow zones and unfriendly currents (like those heading right into rocks or trees) while also, hitting the nice waves and having some fun.

Paddling Orders - Commands: Your crew is the engine of the raft. The paddle crew must work together and be responsive to your paddle commands. It's a team sport. Paddlers should start paddling only when you give a command and continue until they are told to stop. The two front paddlers should dip their paddles in the water simultaneously to avoid causing an energy wasting shimmy of the raft. The paddlers behind them should synchronize with those in front to prevent banging paddle blades or bumping heads. Good paddling is done using your core muscles, not just arms. These skills need to be practiced at the start of your trip before running actual rapids. You want your paddlers to get used to the the idea of taking orders from you. Every paddling cycle is ended with a stop command.

There are only four basic actions you can make with a raft:

Go forwards or speed up

Go backwards or slow down

Rotate left or right

Pull it sideways (a more advanced move used in tight spots)

Stringing these actions together in the right sequence allows you to make all the moves needed on the water.

The standard paddle commands to accomplish these moves are:

Forward!........ Stop!

Paddlers should reach forward with both arms andtheir upper bodies to get the max out of each stroke.

Guide uses his paddle to maintain desired direction.

Back Paddle!........Stop!

Start with body leaned forward and paddle aimed back.Then pull torso back while leveraging the paddle blade forward using your upper thigh as the fulcrum. Repeat. Using arms only makes a weak back paddle.

Guide uses his paddle to maintain desired direction.

Right Turn!..Stop!

It's easy to overdo these turns! Momentum will make the raft continue to spin and you have to stop it or it will corrupt your next move. Call the stop early.

Guide uses paddle to help and to stop the spin when desired heading is achieved.

Left Turn!..Stop!

New paddlers are confused on what to do with these turn commands so you may have to remind them with left side back, right side forward until they get it. Drill often at the beginning. Some guides do this all the time but that's a lot of verbiage for a guide to use all the time.

Draw Right (or Left)

Mainly used on more difficult runs but very handy in many situations.

Notice in the pictures above that paddlers sit on the outer tubes so that they can paddle effectively.

Additionally, there is one more very important command: Highside! which we'll cover later.

You can also modify the forward command with "Easy forward" or "Hard forward!"

When guiding the smaller rafts, the guide can perform most of the turns by himself with the guide paddle. It's harder & slower with a large raft.

The higher the class of river you are running, the more important all this becomes. Your voice should be projected to the front paddlers and volume should increase as the noise of the rapids or the chattering on board increases. Your commands should be crisp and confident. If you have any shyness about controlling others, either get over it or have someone else guide. Just as in driving a car, you must be in control as the guide.

Important note: I commonly hear new guides using Left! and Right! as commands. These are not paddle commands. I assume it means you want them to paddle in a certain direction to avoid a hazard. These require the paddlers to compute the needed raft orientation and what type of stroke to use. Paddlers shouldn't have to think about that; that's your job! The only thing they need to compute is how to use the paddle to carry out your turn commands. Use Left Turn! and Right Turn!

If you don't demonstrate competence early on, make too many mistakes or fail to give commands when needed, your paddlers will start taking over control and you might find yourself with a boatload of people yelling out competing guide commands. Your boat will then have the collective intelligence of a log. Just imagine what would happen if your legs and arms each had separate brains. I've watched many rafts drifting toward rocks or trees with no one paddling and the guide frozen like a deer in the headlights!

Using Paddle Commands Video

Guide Responsibility - Keeping the raft ship-shape

The raft must be properly inflated to 2.5psi. An underinflated raft will be uncomfortable to balance on, hard to paddle and may taco on you in larger rapids.

The bow line must be coiled and tied off so that people won't become entangled in it in the event of a flip.

All bags should be secured snugly to the raft out of the way of paddlers. Use large group bags instead of many small ones.

Hard coolers are not recommended as people can fall on them and get injured. They also make it intimidating for trying to do a highside in the event the raft goes sideways on a rock or in a hole. Use soft coolers.

Don't allow glass containers on a raft trip.

A raft cluttered with personal bags and loose trash can make it unsafe for passengers and if you have a flip over, all that stuff will end up in the river.

As the guide, you should take charge from the moment the raft comes out of the vehicle for inflation till it goes back in the vehicle. Get paddlers to do most of the work. You supervise. It helps establish your leadership role on the trip.

Make sure people wash their feet off before getting in the raft. Sand is the enemy of rafting equipment. At take-out never drag the raft onto the beach; but lift it directly out of the river and carry it to a clean spot with no sand.

A raft might explode if you take it out of a cold river and let it sit in the hot sun too long. Always bleed out enough air to keep it at or below normal pressure while it is drying.

River Navigation

In most cases you'll want to run the raft down the deepest channel you can find in the middle of the river. Trying to run chicken routes along the sides will give you more rocks to hit, tree branches and conflicting currents to deal with. You'll also miss the best waves. Only sneak to the side when a river feature in the main channel presents a danger or you want to pause in an eddy.

Ferry Angles - Moving across the currents to get to a better place

With a faster current 45 degrees may not be fast enough.

Caution: Be real cautious about using a 90 degree angle in a shallow rapid. If the raft hits a rock close to the surface, one or more paddlers on the downstream side may fall out and get run over by the raft.

The ultimate move for avoiding downstream hazards!

Momentum

Momentum in Rafting: The other important factor to keep in mind is momentum - an object in motion tends to want to stay in that same motion. Momentum is useful in a raft when you have to make it over giant waves or plow through holes. But sometimes momentum needs to be reduced. Picture yourself and your 6 person crew (1200 lbs) going down a river at nice clip and it comes to a sharp bend. You'll need to slow your boat down or paddle away from shore in order to keep from hitting stuff along the shoreline. Another thing to keep in mind is that rafts will sideslip across the current (think ice); so angle of thrust is important. It's always a good idea to have to have your anticipated angle set up ahead of time so it just takes one command to get the raft moving.

Stuck On a Rock?

Even the best guides can get a raft stuck on top a shallow rock sometimes. The traditional advice has been to shake the raft by jumping up and down. But if you are sitting on a sharp rock, this can cause damage. The first thing to do is just relax. Do a careful assessment of the situation. By looking for humps in the floor you can figure out where the rock is. Or you may be hemmed in by multiple rocks. Take the weight off the rock by pilling all the crew to a part of the raft that's in deep water. Sometimes you can do a turn to spin off the rock. Getting some people out in the river or on rocks to push & pull is another option.

The Put-in Talk

Carnage Avoidance & Recovery: Among river runners the word carnage is used to refer to mishaps such as rafts flipping or wrapping on rocks, paddlers falling out and having adventures in the river. Most of the time carnage is good clean fun, makes great tales and helps build character. Everyone gets it back together and goes merrily on their way. But mostly it's better to avoid carnage especially if there are other people watching.

Most carnage is caused by bumping into rocks or hitting waves at a bad angle. As the guide you need to be alert as to what's coming, make a plan and get it carried out. The river gods are always watching for guides not paying attention. Rocks can hide a few inches under the surface and can be noticed by their effect on the water surface. As a paddler you should keep an eye on the river when it gets shallow so you can anticipate bumps and brace yourself for them. Everyone should know how to quickly pull in a swimmer. You stand up with your knees on the side of the boat, grab the life jacket at the shoulder with both hands and then fall back using your whole body. It is very helpful for someone to grab the paddle out of their hands and clear the landing area.

Defensive swimming techniques: If you unexpectedly find yourself in the river you must make a quick assessment of any hazards around you. It can be pretty down there during the few seconds it takes for the life jacket to do it's work, with all the bubbles and stuff. Are there any rocks lurking nearby? If you bump up against the bottom of the boat; face it and push it away with your hands until you can pop up. When you surface look around. Where's the boat? Does it look like I'll be pulled back in soon or am I going to have to swim some rapids first? Are there any rocks to fend off downstream? Your best bet is to get to the boat and back in fast. Most of the time it's close by. If you are close enough you can reach toward the boat with your paddle handle and have someone pull you near and back in. But if you are in fast moving shallow waters you must roll onto your back, get your feet pointed downstream and near the surface and your butt up to clear any rocks. Use the back stroke and swim at various angles to the current to maneuver down through the rapid in the deepest water you can find. Use you legs to push off from any rocks. Remember that your mouth and nose are now pointed straight at the rapids and you will have to take your breaths carefully between waves. I know you'll want to breath like a racehorse but this is a good time for control. Turning your head sideways to take a breath is much better if you can pull it off. After the rapid, swim back to the boat if you can or to shore if you spot a nice eddy. It's important to take responsibility for yourself in the water. Don't wait to be rescued while floating the next quarter mile of river (I've seen it more than once). After you are through a rapid and you have deep water you should change to a another faster swim stroke to get where you want to go. If you are still holding on to your paddle you can throw it towards your destination and swim after it or just forget about it if you need to swim like hell. You can chase it down later.

Ignorance is bliss but knowledge is power (Life)

Under no circumstances should you try to stand or walk in fast moving water deeper than 20 inches or so. Your foot could become entrapped on the bottom between rocks or in roots. Then the current can push you down under the surface thereby ruining your day and everyone else's.

Also, stay away from any trees (strainers) in the river that have current flowing through them. They'll trap your ass too. Just swim away with haste.

High-siding: When a raft hits a rock sideways in a current, the upstream tube can be forced/sucked under water and the rock side pushed up the rock causing the likelihood of a wrap, flip or an unexpected dunk. The way to prevent this is to have all the paddlers move to the rock side of the boat before it hits or as soon as possible by yelling "highside" so the upstream tube can stay above the current. Hopefully they will move fast enough to prevent a wrap or flip. Having your crew practice this move before its needed is a very good idea as people are quite slow about it the first time. Timing is very important to the success of this maneuver. As a paddler I often start to high-side automatically before the guide even says it.

If your boat does flip

1. Get out from under the boat if that's where you ended up. Put the paddles on top of the boat to free your hands.

2. Check downstream for hazards or handy eddies and decide if you will swim the boat to shore or do the mid-stream macho recovery technique. Generally it's best to stay with the boat but if there is a hazard close downstream like a big rapid you must decide whether to stay with the raft or abandon it and swim to shore (but only if there is time to do that before the next rapid). Generally, on low flow rivers like the American in summertime there are handy eddies to swim the raft into and you can turn it back over in the shallows.

3. If you are doing the macho mid stream recovery, the next step is to climb on top of the boat. You and your crew can raft the next fast section on the upside down boat if you have to. You may need some sort of aid to climb onto the boat from the water. You can untie the bow line, feed it through one of the side D rings, throw it over the boat and go around and pull yourself up with it. Many guides wear a piece of webbing doubled around their waists (a flip line) connected with a carabiner for fast deployment. Once you are on top, use the line to pull the boat back over which will but you back in the water again. Those crew members not pulling on the rope or still in the river should take charge of the loose paddles so they don't get lost in the process.

4. Climb back in (with the aid of that ol flip line) and help others get in. Find an eddy and take a breather. This whole experience can produce some great bonding among your fellow paddles. If you are good & studly, this whole thing can be done in 30 seconds or less. I highly recommend you try this procedure in some quiet water a few times so you know what you're doing when the need arises. Or maybe you'll know enough to say, "We're swimmin it to shore boys".

I hope that if this ever happens to you that all your baggage and stuff is snugly secured to the raft and not cast onto the currents for the crawdads to examine.

Another important point to mention is that bow line - if it is laying in the raft loose, swimmers can become entangled in it if you flip. Always use the proper knot to secure it and keep it on a short leash.